Method of casting ingots.



No. 735,596. PATENTED- AUG. 4, 1903,- A. SAUVEUR & J. WHITING. METHOD OFCASTING INGOTS.

APPLICATION IILBD JUNE 6, 1903.

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Wit wag UNITE STATES Patented August 4, 1903.

I PATENT OFFICE.

MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF CASTING INGOTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 735,596, dated August4, 1903.

Application filed June 6, 1903. Serial No. 160,348. (No specimens.)

Serial No. 115,035, allowed to Albert Sauveur,

on which the present method is an improvement.

It has been found that in casting ingots in communicating molds when themetal is allowed to overflow the tops of a number of suc-' ceeding moldsto that which is being filled the ingots in some of the molds are solid,

. while the others have pipes varying in size according to theirdistance from the mold into which the metal is poured. Therefore toproduce solid ingots it is necessary to maintain hot the surface of eachingot-top during a certain time.

To this end the present invention consists in a method of pouringwhereby the surface of each one of a series of molds is successivelymaintained in a molten condition while a certain predetermined number ofmolds beyond are filled. This is accomplished by running themolten metalon or over each succeeding mold after it is filled and while one or moremolds beyond it are filling.

In the drawings, in which like letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts throughout,Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representationof the first step in the method. Fig. 2 is a similar showing of thesecond step. Fig. 3 indicates amodification of the second step. Figs. 4.and 5 show the molds in series. Fig. 6 is a detail of thepouring-funnel, and Figs. 7 to 12 are details of the arrangement whenthe molds are mounted on cars.

M M M 850., represent the members of a 1 series of communicating moldswhich are to be filled with molten steel.

F is a funnel containing the molten steel from which the ingots are tobe formed. If

now, referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the metal be poured into M, fillingit, overflowing its .top, and filling each succeeding mold in turn untilM is full, M will in most cases be found to contain a solid ingot withno pipe at all in its top. If the operation be stopped at this point, Mwill have a pipe of perhaps one inch, M one of two inches, M one ofthree inches, &c.,'in the case of crucible-steel ingots of about onehundred pounds. The ladle, however, is now shifted to M and the pouringcontinued in it until M has been filled, when the metal in M will havebeen maintained with its surface molten until properly cooled below, aswas M, and when cooled will now be found similarly free from pipe. WhenM has been completely filled, the pouring is shifted toM, and so onthroughout'the operation. In this way after filling the first six moldsby pouring into the first mold and shifting the pouring to eachsucceeding mold until the mold beyond that last filled is filled eachingot will have the benefit of the heat of the overflowing metal for thetime it takes to traverse the intervening molds and fill the, moldbeyond, and so each mold will be cooled from the bottom up properlyandproduced without pipe.

In Fig. 3 a modification is suggested involving the same principle. Insome cases where the rate of pouring differs from that supposed above orthe molds'difie'r in size or other elements varyto make diiferent therate of cooling of the ingots it is sometimes desirable to move theladle to another than the second mold after the first step has beencompleted, skipping one or more of the molds, as the case may require.In the case here supposed in'Fig. 3 one mold has been skipped, so thatafter M has been filled, M having been maintained hot long enough, theladle- The can be shifted to M while M is filled. next step in thismodification afterNo. 7 has been filled would be to shift again, and soon, or the pouring might be continued at mold No. 3, while both moldsNos. 7 and 8 were filledthat is, the ladle may be shifted at unevenintervals or held for a longer period than that required to fill onemold, as the case may require. By thus using a number 'of molds inaseries and by shifting the pouring to different points all of theingots will be allowed to cool at nearly the same rate and in nearly thesame manner, so that all will be produced as perfect as the bestproduced by a single pouring.

In Figs. 4 and 5 the molds are shown as clamped in a series by a frameover which is shifted the funnel F, containing the metal. The frameconsists of a back plate B, longitudinal members on either side clampedthereto. On one side the member is formed by an I-beam I, which bearswith its upper and lower flanges against the molds, and on the otherside of two small I-beams D, which act to hold the molds thereagainst.The plate B carries compressing means, as a screw 8, and wedge-blocks Mare introduced between the molds and the I-beams D to tighten and alinethe molds in series. The beams D are removable laterally from theopenings in which they rest and are held tight by wedgeblocks w, actingthrough slots in the I-beams against the plates B B By knocking outthese wedges and removing the beams D the molds, which in this form aremade in two sections, are readily stripped from the ingots and allowedto fall to one side.

The ladle has been referred to as shifted from mold to mold, butobviously it might be held stationary and the molds shifted by mountingthem on cars or in any other way. Such an arrangement is indicated inFigs. 7 to 12, in which a series of molds are shown mounted upon cars.Each car may carry a single mold, or the molds may be arranged in groupson them. The molds here shown are slightly flaring toward their bottom,which is open, and the tops are connected by removable runners R, thesame consisting merely of flanged channels which furnish means ofcommunication from mold to mold and from car to car. The track on whichthese cars are mounted may be slightly inclined to facilitate the flowof metal from mold to mold; but this is not usually necessary, as therunners R are arranged to allow the mold to overflow before it is quitefull. When the ingots are sufficiently cooled, the runners are knockedout and the molds lifted off from the ingots.

In pouring the metal into a mold which has been previously filled it isnecessary to so introduce it that it will not cause undue agitation inthe partially-cooled ingot, and to provide for this the method includesthe following step in the procedure: The metal is poured into a funnelF, (shown in Fig. 6,) which has a false bottom G spaced slightly aboveits own bottom and forming therein an auxiliary bottom chamber 0 intowhich it passes through the outlet f without head or momentum. In thisway the pouring can be accomplished without stirring the partiallycooledmetal contained in the molds.

The arrangement of molds, the intervals of 'pouring, the number of moldsfilled, and the manner of communication between molds, as well asvarious other details, may obviously be varied and modified withoutdeparting from the spirit of our invention.

What we therefore claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The method of casting ingots consisting in pouring into the first ofa series of molds, allowing it to overflow into a predetermined numberof succeeding molds, then pouring into another previously-filled moldand allowing the metal to continue to overflow the molds before filled,until the next mold beyond them is filled, and so on.

2. The method of casting metal consisting in successively filling aseries of communicating molds so that the metal poured into the firstmold of the series, will fill and overflow a predetermined number ofmolds, then shifting the pouring to another mold of the series while thenext mold or molds beyond are being filled.

3. The method of casting metal consisting in successively maintaininghot the tops of a predetermined number of previously-filled molds in aseries, by running molten metal over them while the molds beyond aresuccessively filling.

4. The method of casting ingots consisting in successively filling aseries of molds by running metal over the tops of a predetermined numberof previously-filled molds.

5. The method of casting ingots consisting in running metal into anauxiliary chamber, allowing it to flow therefrom into the first of aseries of molds from which it overflows into a predetermined number ofsucceeding molds,

then allowing it to flow from said auxiliary chamber into one of themolds previously filled by the overflow, until one or more molds beyondthem is filled, and so on.

6. The method of casting metal consisting in running it into anauxiliary chamber to break the force of its flow, and in filling aseries of communicating molds therefrom, so that the metal poured intothe first mold of the series, will fill and overflow a predeterminednumber of molds, then allowing the metal to flow from said auxiliarychamber into another mold of the series while one or more molds beyondare being filled.

7. The method of casting ingots consisting in running metal into anauxiliary chamber to break the force of its flow, and successivelyfilling therefrom a series of molds by running the molten metal over thetops of a predetermined number of previously-filled molds.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

ALBERT SAUVEUR. JASPER WHITING. Witnesses:

ELLIS SPEAR, Jr., GEORGE B. SEARS.

